Allison
by jennisfifi
Summary: A new Girl comes to Rock Creek...Don't worry, she doesn't break anyone up.
1. Chapter 1

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This story was written between 1992 and 1993 with my friend Ellen, who is now a high school English teacher, during Mr. Mitch's Journalism class. Good use of our time, don't you think!

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**Allison**

Kid reread the letter again as he walked toward the marshal's office. Not noticing, he walked right into Teaspoon.  
"What'cha reading there that is so all fired important that you don't know where you're walking?" Teaspoon asked.  
"A letter from my cousin. I have problems, Teaspoon, and I don't have much time to figure it out." Kid told him.  
"Well, Kid, why don't you give me a try?" Teaspoon told him.  
"Okay', Kid began. "She, my cousin Allison that is, is on her way here right now. She will be here any time. I don't know what I am going to do with her."   
"I'd say you're family just got a little bit bigger. You and Lou will be getting her brother and sister soon as you can, right?" Teaspoon asked.  
"Yeah. But it may be awhile before we get them. What are we gonna do with her in the meantime. She doesn't have any family left, and I don't want to send her back to Virginia with all the tension going on down there.  
Teaspoon regarded Kid carefully. "Welcome to the world of being in charge of other people's lives, Kid. Just wait until they're your youngin's." He laughed. Kid stood there in utter disbelief. Lou walked up beside him.  
"What's the matter Kid?' She asked her future husband. He handed her the letter. "Well, I guess we better go and see if she can board with Rachel." She told him. Kid looked at her as if she had just invented the wheel. A smile broke across his handsome face. Louise just looked at him quizzically.  
"Lou, have I ever told you how smart you are?" He asked as he took her arm and practically dragged her to Rachel's house.

"Of course she can stay here, Kid, what would you have her do, stay in the bunkhouse with you?" Rachel asked with a smile.  
"Thanks Rachel. This takes a load off of my mind." Kid told her, relieved.  
"How old is your cousin, anyway?" Rachel asked him.  
"She's got to be around sixteen now. She was just a little girl when I left, all knobby kneed, I don't really know what to expect of her." Kid explained.  
"I have to say that it sure will be nice to have another female around for Kid to fuss and worry over. Take some of the pressure off of me." Louise joked about her fiancée's over protective streak. Kid looked down at her with a hurt expression on his face.  
"Don't worry, Kid, I'm just joking. I love that you care enough to worry about me." Louise soothed him. She tiptoed up to kiss him. Rachel smiled at the two that were due to get married in two weeks. She always knew that they would make it to the altar. Their adversity and strife had only served to strengthen and prove their love for each other.  
"So, What's say we get that extra room cleared out for Miss Allison, okay Kid?" Rachel suggested. Kid was just staring at Louise. Ahh, young love, Rachel thought. "Kid?" Rachel repeated, bringing Kid's head out of the clouds.  
"What did you say, Rachel?" Kid asked. Louise blushed.  
"I was just suggesting that you help me get ready for Allison by clearing out the extra room upstairs." She told him.  
"Yeah, I'll do that." and he bounded up the stairs. Louise and Rachel laughed.  
"Lou, I do believe that he loves you." Rachel teased the young woman.  
"I'm pretty lucky, I guess. I'm just glad that we found our way back after all that happened." Louise told her.  
"Know what? I think you both found your way back because of all that happened to you. I just don't think you too could live without each other.' Rachel smiled. Lou ducked her head and blushed. "Now, I believe that we have a wedding dress to get altered before you get married, Not to mention a couple of suits that need to be finished." Rachel reminded Louise of the chores that needed to be done before her wedding.

Kid worked the afternoon away clearing out the spare room and Louise and Rachel worked just as diligently to finish her dress and Kid's suit while they had the opportunity to do so. The Pony Express had been running less mail with every week that went by, and the rides where scheduled further and further apart. Louise was apprehensive about taking her final run next week. It meant that apart of her that she love would be ending. But, in its place, a whole new adventure was beginning, and she wouldn't be on this one by herself.  
Teaspoon walked in the door. "Kid, I do believe that your visitor is waiting for you to pick her up." He shouted up the stairs. Kid ran out of the room and down the stairs.  
"Already? I didn't think she would be here for a couple days at least." Kid said as he ran out the door. Rachel and Louise looked at Teaspoon with the same bewildered expression as Kid had on his face as they put down their work and walk out of the house to follow Kid.

Sure enough, standing at Stagecoach stop, was a young woman with long hair the same chestnut shade as Kids. She was slightly shorter than Kid, with a build that would have the boys bumping into each other at dinner tonight. She looked around for a familiar face, looking slightly afraid that she had made a grievous error in coming all the way out to Nebraska territory with out hearing back from her cousin first.  
"Allison?" Kid asked from a few feet away. She turned at the sound of her name.  
"Kid? Is that you?" She asked, Hopeful.  
"Yep.' He told her, coming close to give her a hug." I wasn't expecting you for a couple of days yet. I just got your letter today. Seems that the mail is running as fast as the stage now days." He half joked.  
"I do hope that I haven't caused you too much of a problem. I just couldn't stay with the Calder's any longer. They already have so many mouths to feed, and with the war coming on, I felt that I was a burden on them. I miss home, but with out having your people around, nothing is really home. You are the only family I have left." She told him. She reached for one of her bags and Kid beat her to it. He spied Jesse standing by Teaspoon and asked him to help him out. Jesse walked up to the pair, the awe in his face naked to those who saw it.

"UHHO,' Rachel whispered to Louise, "looks like we have a case of puppy love starting here." And she pointed Jesse out to Louise, who covered her laugh with her hand.  
"Allison,' Kid began, walking his cousin to the house, "This is Rachel Dunn, you will be staying in the house with her. And this,' he set the bag down on the porch and put an arm around Louise," Is Louise. We are getting married in two weeks." He said with a grin. Allison smiled at Louise brightly.  
"I am so glad to meet you Louise. Congratulations." And she hugged the woman.  
"Why don't Louise and I get Allison settled in, Kid, and then we can all sit down and get reacquainted?" Rachel suggested. Allison nodded her agreement to the suggestion, and Rachel and Louise showed Allison to her room upstairs. Allison glanced around the room that would be her home for who knew how long, relieved to see that she would not be sharing it with four other people, as had been the case at the Calder's. They were good people, and she would miss them, but, like her cousin, the call of the west was louder than her need to be around all the bloodshed that was soon to come. She wanted to be a teacher, and when war was around, very little teaching got done. She put her things in the dresser and hung her dresses in the small wardrobe that stood against one wall. She took a deep breath and Walked down the stairs.

Kid and Louise sat on the settee and Jesse was leaning against the wall, just watching her walk. Allison looked at the young man, intrigued. He was around her age, and had a wizened appearance, as if he had already been through too much for one his age. Allison could relate to that. She decided that she would like to get to know this young man.  
"You can't be all settled in already, Alli." Kid asked his cousin.  
" I have the important things put away. For now, I want to hear everything you can tell me about living out here, not to mention about you getting married. I used to think that you would end up with Doretha, but she ran off and married that slick fellow that was always hanging around."  
Kid looked down at the floor, and Louise told her what had happened with Doretha.  
" Uhmm, Doretha was here a while back with her husband, Garth, and well, they were in some trouble and Garth was shot, and Doretha killed herself." Louise told Allison.  
"Oh, Kid, I am so sorry. I didn't know. That's just awful. I knew about Jed, but no one has heard anything about those two in so long. We had just figured they had made it to California like they had talked about." Allison finished.  
"No harm done. Anyway, That doesn't really matter, does it?' Kid reassured the girl. "You wanted to hear about what it's like out here, right? Well, I'm sure Cody will be more than happy to tell you all." Kid began.  
"Okay, but what about you two?" Alli asked, motioning between Kid and Lou. Louise laughed.  
"You are going to have to be here all day to hear that story. I have a brother and sister in an orphanage in St. Joe that I am trying to get out. So, to try and get the money for a grubstake, I started working for the express, as a boy. Would have kept my secret longer, too, if it weren't for your cousin here finding out.' Louise nudged Kid in the arm. They smiled at each other for a moment, remembering that first moment of realization. " The boys found out when I had to rescue my brother and sister, and Teaspoon didn't find out until Rachel came along to save us from Jimmy's cookin. I guess, though, with me and Kid, I loved him from the moment that I saw him. Even though he was wearing those god-awful buckskins." Louise laughed at her future husband's early choice of clothing.  
"Hey, they were comfortable!" Kid tried to defend himself. The whole group laughed.  
"What about you, Kid? When did you realize that you loved Louise?" She asked.  
"That would be the first time I kissed her. If she hadn't been so dang mule headed, we would have gotten married the first time I had asked her." Louise narrowed her eyes at him.   
"I guess I deserved that. He had a lot to learn about me, though. I had some demons to deal with, and so, I told him no, twice. We stopped seeing each other, and had some tough times. But we were always there for each other. Then, I knew that anything that I had to deal with, he would be with me. That's when I knew we would survive anything. It just took him longer to ask me to marry him. But I sure am glad that he did. I can't wait to be his wife. Shoot, I'll even cook every once in a while." She joked.

Outside, the dinner bell was called, and the group headed to the bunkhouse to eat. Cody, Buck, and Noah already sat at the table. They all stood up when they saw the unfamiliar woman enter the room.  
"Cody, Buck, Noah, I would like you to meet my cousin, Allison. She has just moved here. She's going to be staying with Rachel." Kid told the bunch. The boys showed Allison their best manners, and as promise, Cody told Allison the bounties of the west, in all of his dramatic ways.  
"Now, I must say, that all of this great land and open space that we have is just the greatest thing that I have ever beheld, but more and more people are moving out here and not respecting what was here before them. Like the Indians. Buck could tell you first hand the beauty of their ways, and the atrocities that have fallen them since Lewis and Clark came this way looking for the ocean. We have done nothing but make promises to them and not keep a one. It just makes me sick to see what is happening. I don't know what this war is going to do to this nation, but I do see that not much good is going to follow." Cody finished. Allison regarded the blond man quietly.  
"I understand that there have been some conflicts all the way out here. I had always thought that the war would only be fought in the direct south, like Georgia and Virginia. Why, I heard about some horrible atrocities on my way out here. I heard that they have been burning people's farms and taking livestock all the way out here. I must say, though, that it is so much nicer here than back in Virginia.  
"I think,' Rachel interrupted, "that we should put aside all of this talk of war for the moment. I am afraid, that while it is inevitable, we can probably find a better conversation for the dinner table." She finished, noting that the mood was growing somber.  
"Can't help it Rachel.' Jesse began. " It is right in our face. I can't rightly remember a time when my family wasn't talking about it. I just hope that we can all make it through this before too long."   
"I know, Jesse, I know." Rachel told the boy.


	2. Chapter 2

-1The weather was still warm, and the group all sat outside of the bunkhouse, taking in the sounds of the town closing up for the night, and the saloon's business really getting going. Teaspoon excused himself and began his nightly rounds as Marshal.  
"It sure is pretty out here. It is so nice to be in that stage any longer." Allison told them.  
"I've never been to Virginia. What's it like out there?" Jesse asked her.  
"Oh, it's just beautiful. Rolling green hills, and plantations and farms all along the countryside. Where we live, there were more dirt farmers than anything, so we didn't really have the type of life that most northerners think southern farmers have. I have personally worked in the fields, picking tobacco and cotton, and I have the scars on my hands and arms to prove it.  
I never did think that you should make someone else do something unless you were willing to do it yourself. Our whole family was like that. Stubborn, some called us. They thought that we should have bought Slaves, but my daddy would have no part in that. He said if we were gonna pay for help, we would pay for people that wanted to work, not because they had to. Sure, we never got rich, but it wasn't hard for us to sleep at night.  
You might be surprised at how many people in the south actually think that way. But, I do know that there are so many out there that do just horrible things to people just because they think they have the right. The Lord will call them up some day for their actions. I rest easy knowing that I haven't caused that pain." Allison told them.

Noah had listened to the young girl closely. He knew that she was cut from the same cloth as Kid, and it made him smile. Good people were still out there, people that knew wrong from right. Allison and Kid were just that kind of people.  
"Where are you from, Jesse?" Allison asked.  
"Kansas. My brother Frank and I, our whole family, we were burned out of our farm last year. Frank has been off doing his thing, and I came here. I like it well enough, except when Rachel and Teaspoon baby me." He told her.

The air began to cool down, and the group decided it was time to turn in. Rachel and Allison walked to the house, and the boys went inside. Kid and Lou remained on the porch and looked at the stars.  
"I'm glad that you are here with me, Kid. Please, after hearing Allison, you can't still be considering going back?" Louise asked Kid. He tightened his arms around her. Tears welled up in her eyes at the thought of him going into battle without her there with him.  
"I just don't know. I have so much going through my head right now, that I don't know if the thought is coming or going. I just know that I have to do what is right for us." He told her.  
"Well, then, if what is right for us is you going to Virginia to fight, then I am going with you. I'll dress like a boy and follow." She informed him, stiffly. "I told you never to make me leave you to fight by yourself. I meant that. Then, and now."

Kid looked seriously at her. He knew her will and what she could do. He loved her more than anything. Sitting down on the step, he put his face in his hands and shoved his fingers back through his hair.   
"Okay then, that's settled, then. I won't be going to Virginia to fight. I know you Lou, I know that you would follow me. I can't have anything happening to you. I'll stay here." He told her.  
"Are you sure?' She asked. Kid looked at her and smiled crookedly.  
"You have no idea how happy you just made me, Kid." She threw her arms around him and held him close.  
"I think I just might." Kid told her as he kissed her.


	3. Chapter 3

-1The sun shone brightly the next day as Allison finished putting her things away. She had decided that much of her belongings could stay in her trunks, out in the barn, until Kid and Louise found a place of their own. She busied herself with helping Louise get ready for the wedding. She found that she admired this woman that had gone through hell to get where she was today. Jesse came to the door and watched her look. He blushed when she saw him.  
"Hi Jesse. Can I help you with something?" She asked.  
"I was just wonderin if you would like to go for a ride?" He asked shyly. He hoped she said yes. He had asked Kid earlier if he could, and he actually said yes.  
"Sure, that sounds nice. I'll go change." and Allison headed upstairs. A few minuets later, she came down the stairs in a split riding skirt, and a simple blouse.  
"Ready?" She asked him, laughing.  
"Uh, Yeah. Let's go." and he led her to the barn. He didn't need to help her up on her horse, she was an accomplished rider, but she let him anyway. Allison knew that Jesse was planning on showing off to her, most boys did, and she just thought it might be fun to let him, this once. They had ridden for the better part of an hour when the wind picked up and the sky grew rapidly darker and Jesse urged her to head towards an old barn they had passed about a mile back. They barely made it into the barn when lightning lit the sky and thunder cracked, opening the heavens to release a deluge of rain on the earth. Jesse found an old lantern that looked like it still had some oil in it and tried to light it. When he got it lit, he suggested that they go into the tack room to try and stay warm.

"I sure hope this lets up pretty soon, Kid is going to worry himself sick over me. Lou told me how bad he can get over her, I hate to think what he would do in my case." Allison told Jesse, who handed her a saddle blanket he had located. It was musty, but warm.   
"I don't know. We haven't had a good rain around here in a while. We may end up being out here for a while." Jesse told her. That did nothing to reassure her.  
"So, Jesse, tell me about yourself. Why aren't you with your brother Frank?" She asked.  
"Not much really to tell. Frank and I left home after abolitionist's burned the farm. Ma went to stay with relatives, and we just struck out on our own. Frank is riding with Quantrill. He told me that I was too young to be with him. That's okay, though, I like it here in Rock Creek. But, soon enough, Frank will need my help. I'll go with them in a heart beat." Jesse told the girl.   
"Quantrill, as in Quantrill's raiders? Jesse, they are no good outlaws. They are no better than the men that burned out your farm. Why would you want to ride with men like that?" Allison asked with surprise.  
"Why? I guess it's because the government is trying to tell us what we can or can't do. I learned about the constitution in school. I know that we have rights. If the south wants to split from the north, they have the right to do so if that is what the majority wants. The north doesn't like that. They think that we are just too dumb to decide what is right and wrong. Well, now they are gonna have to fight us. And in order to fight, you have to have weapons, and in order to have weapons, you have to have the money to buy them. That's where Quantrill's raiders come in. They are getting the money that the south needs." He explained to her.

Allison didn't think he sounded like he was all that convinced himself.  
"I don't know, Jesse. Stealing and burning out people's homes is wrong, no matter what the cause. Good people, innocent people are dying because other people think they are furthering "the cause"." She debated with him. Allison looked out the door and noticed the rain was beginning to let up.

"It looks like we might be able to leave soon. Are you up to riding fast?" Jesse asked her.  
"I think that I can manage." Allison smiled at him as they began to lead the horses out of the barn. Jesse took off, leading the way, and before he knew it, Allison had passed him.  
"Hey, wait up, you might get lost." Jesse yelled ahead of him. Allison looked back at him with a mad grin.  
"Think you can keep up with me?" Allison shouted. Suddenly, the horse came to a stop, and Allison went tumbling over its head. She knew enough to protect her head and she rolled to a stop. Jesse reigned to a stop and ran to see if she was all right.  
"Are you okay, Allison?" Jesse asked, checking to see if she had broken anything. Allison dusted herself off and offered her hand to Jesse so he could help her up.  
"Shoot, Jesse, I've been thrown worse than that. I'm no city girl. I've gotten dirty before. Is that horse okay?" Allison asked with concern, wondering why it had stopped so soon. She ran a hand over its forelegs and raised it to check the shoe. Sure enough, the horse had picked up a nasty looking jagged stone.  
"Find me a stick, will ya Jesse?' She asked. He located one and she dislodged the offending stone. She mounted the horse again. " Looks like I'll have to take it slower getting home now."  
"We are almost back, anyway." Jesse consoled her

When they arrived back at the station, Kid was preparing to head out to look for the two. He breathed a sigh of relief and wrapped his arms around his cousin.  
"I was getting worried. You managed to get out of the storm, I see." Kid said, noticing that their clothing was still dry.  
"Yeah, we made it to that old barn about two miles away before the storm hit." Jesse told the Kid. Kid looked over Allison and noted that she was quite dirty. Allison cut in to tell Kid what happened with the horse before he could ask.   
"My horse picked up a stone and decided to let me off at the same time. I am okay, though, Kid. Don't get yourself worked up." She told him.

Kid looked her over again, and nodded his head for her to get inside.  
"Jesse, will you help me get these horses back in the barn?" Kid asked the younger man.  
"Sure, Kid." And he followed him into the barn. Allison stood on the porch for a moment looking back at the proud young man. She hoped that they would be able to spend more time together.

"Allison, what ever did you do?" Rachel asked the girl after seeing her dirty clothes. Allison ducked her head and grinned.  
"I fell off of my horse. I'm all right. 'sides, a little dirt never hurt anyone." She told her. She bounded up the stairs to change. Rachel shook her head. Louise walked in.  
"What are you laughing at?" She asked.  
"Allison just came back from her ride with Jesse, all grinnin' away, and covered with dirt. She said she fell off of her horse. Does that sound familiar, Lou?" Rachel told her. Lou blushed; remembering that same explanation given after she and Kid had gone off alone one afternoon and they came back covered in prairie grass.  
"You don't think that she and Jesse, you know, did anything do you?' Lou asked.  
"I don't think so. I just can't see them doing that. But she was grinning pretty big, so I do believe that Jesse's not the only one with a crush." Rachel added.

Upstairs, Allison finished changing her clothes and looked out the window towards the barn. Jesse was helping her cousin with some chores and glancing up at her window. Their eyes met and Allison waved. She bounced down the stairs and headed back outside. Allison walked over to him and shyly said  
"Hi."  
"Hi. You changed quick, for a girl and all." Jesse tried to start a conversation.   
"Well, It's not like I'm some city girl that needs a maid, or that." She told him.  
"I was only kidding." Jesse tried to smooth over. "Besides, you look prettier than any city girl I have ever seen." Allison looked at him, trying to decide if she would accept his compliment or not.  
"And have you seen many city girls in your life, Jesse James?" Allison pouted prettily.  
"If I had, I don't remember them any longer." He told her truthfully.  
Allison leaned against a stall in the barn. She had her back to the door, and the sunlight lit her hair like a halo. Jesse knew that he had to kiss her, or he would not be able to breathe. He took two steps towards her and touched her face. When she did not shy away from him, he leaned in and tentatively kissed her mouth softly.  
"You can do better than that, Jesse." Allison told him softly. Jesse cupped her face and really kissed her this time. Allison felt as if her heart stopped beating. The kiss slowly deepened as the two grew more confident. Jesse slid his tongue over her lips, and Allison opened her mouth for him. Jesse tasted her tongue, and the two stood like that for what seemed forever.  
Allison broke the kiss off gently.  
"Well, I guess you can do better." Allison tried to joke. Jesse looked down at the floor.  
"Jesse, is something wrong?" She asked when he wouldn't look at her.  
"No, well, I don't know. I just, it's just that, Aww shoot, Allison, I guess I just like you so much." Jesse tried to explain.  
"I like you too, Jess." Allison told him, sitting down on a pile of hay. Jesse looked at her.  
"Kid would kill me if he knew I was having these feelings about you." He told her.  
"What feelings, Jess?" Allison asked, wanting to hear the words from his lips.   
"I think that I love you, Alli." He told her, blushing a bright red. Allison looked at him with a hesitant smile.  
"You do?" She asked.  
"Yeah, I do." Jesse sat down next to her on the hay. He touched her hair and treaded through his fingers. He pulled her closer to him and kissed her again. This time their kiss was interrupted by a cough. Lou stood in the doorway to the barn.

"Unless you want Kid to find you two this way, Allison, I suggest that you leave, and Jesse, I think that you need to finish these stalls." She said, trying to cover up a laugh.  
"Lou, we were just?" Jesse started to say.  
"Jesse, I'm about to get married. I know what you were doing. Just finish the stalls. Allison, why don't you come with me." Lou advised.

Allison left the barn as Lou followed. She turned to Lou we they reached the porch.  
"Lou, I'm sixteen. I don't need you and Kid treating me like some sort of mother hen." She told her defensively.   
"Would you rather I had let Kid be the one to find the two of you?" Louise asked the girl, pointing out Kid walking into the barn.  
"You knew that he was headed to the barn?" Allison asked.  
"Yes. Now, go on in the house. We still have some work to get done before my wedding, and you are going to help." Lou laughed as Allison blushed.

Allison and Jesse found moments here and there to be by themselves. They talked about their childhoods, and what they envisioned for their futures. The wedding was only a few short days away, and Jesse ran into the house where Allison was working on some finishing touches on her dress.  
"Jesse, what did you need?" She asked as he looked over the parlor high and low. Jesse smiled.  
"Lou's on her way into town from her last run, and we are giving her some presents. Do you know where some knitting needles are?" He asked. Allison looked at him strangely and handed him a set.  
"Thanks." He kissed her and bounded out the door over to the barn, going inside with Buck, Noah, and Rachel. Allison watched from the window, as Lou looked for the other riders, then dismounted from Lightning and the four jumped out in front of her, shouting 'Surprise'. Allison smiled at the look on Lou's face when they handed her a bouquet of flowers, an apron, and Jesse presented her with the knitting needles. Lou playfully threatened to stab him with them, and he walked back to the house.  
"That was sweet of you all to do that for Louise. I'm sure she likes being reminded what pigs men can be." Allison joked.  
"Pigs?" Jesse tried to sound offended as he swung her around and Allison kissed him soundly.

Tensions in the town were heating up, with the army camped in Rock Creek, recruiting as many of the towns young men as they could. That night, Cody walked in and told them all that he joined up, and that the army was going to be using him as a scout. The wedding was the next day, and both Allison and Louise were concerned when Kid didn't get back to town when they had expected him to. He finally made it, looking a little worse than wear, and wedding went on as planned.

Louise looked like an angel in her wedding gown. She wore her hair up in curls on her head, and Kid looked so handsome in his suit. Nervous too. Jimmy had not shown up to walk Louise down the aisle, and She had asked Jesse to do the honors. The Music started and as Jesse and Louise started down the aisle, Jimmy and a woman burst through the doors and Jimmy joined Jesse in giving Louise away.

The ceremony was beautiful, and the reception was gay, in spite of a young army officer that Louise knew dying as a result of wounds gained in a skirmish with rebels at the border.

The next thing Allison knew was that Jesse's brother Frank came for him. Jesse, ignoring Rachel and Teaspoon, went to his brother.  
"I have to Teaspoon. Family is family." Jesse told the older man.   
"Jesse, you don't know what you're getting yourself into here. You won't be able to turn back." Teaspoon told him.  
Jesse looked at Teaspoon, and Allison, who had tears in her eyes.  
" I have to." And he turned to go gather his belongings in the barn. Allison ran after him. She reached him in the barn, and pleaded with him not to go.  
"Please, Jesse, don't do this. I may never get to see you again. You said that you love me. I love you too; I don't want to lose you. What will I do if I lose you?" She implored. Jesse reached out to touch her face. The heartache was prevalent in his eyes.  
"Alli, I will come back for you. I swear. I have to help my brother, whatever it is he is doing." Jesse told her. He kissed her one last time, lingering a moment, as if to freeze it in his memory. He turned and met his brother at the door to the barn. Frank nodded to her, and offered an arm to Jesse to hoist up behind him on the horse.

Allison watched the boy she loved ride off to become a man with no future. She dried her tears, and walked back to the reception. Louise looked at her with concern.  
"Are you going to be okay?" Louise asked. Allison nodded a yes.  
"I'll be fine. It's Jesse that I'm worried about. But, He made his decision, and there is nothing that I can do to stop him. I'm just going to go on with my life. That's all I can do." Allison told Louise. Allison knew that it would be harder than that, but she had dealt with loss and hardship before, and she knew that she would survive.

THE END


End file.
